Week 14, the final week, it all comes down to this, my final blog post. Before I discuss what we learned this week, I would like to say its been a real journey learning about social media and web 2.0 as a whole. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, this week we discussed distance education and virtual schooling. Distance education has been around for a long time. I remember as a kid learning about students who lived in rural Australia and did all of their schooling via a phone call to a teacher in the city. Today, phone schooling is outdated. Students can now take courses online. My first experience with online classes was in high school. To be part of the school TV program, I had to take online classes over the summer. When I reached college, online education had a presence here as well. I've taken several of them because they're a great way to learn at my own speed without the need to commute to campus.
There's definitely a place for online education in the field of telecommunication and production. Programs like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro are constantly coming out with updates and new versions. With these new versions comes new functionality and greater creative power. Educating myself on these updates and additional functionality through virtual schooling allows me to stay on top of my work and improve the quality of my work.
Virtual Co-pilot
I chose this website because its a great example of distance education. This site contains hundred of tutorials on the special affects program, After Effects. By following these tutorials I can educate myself outside of the classroom.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
WEEK 13: Creating a Professional Web Presence
Lucky 13! This week we began creating professional web presences for ourselves using Google Sites, a new service launched by Google. The newest Google service allows amateur web developers, me, to create simple yet effective and professional looking websites in a fraction of the time it would take to code an equivalent site. Once you've logged in with your Google password, simply pick a template and begin editing using their GUI interface.
Creating a web presence is a must in the field of telecom. I work at a production house in St. Petersburg and the majority of our business comes in through traffic to the website. Clients want to see that you're tech savvy enough to create a polished site that showcases your work and exudes an air of professionalism. Sites that are poorly written, or difficult to navigate make clients uneasy and less likely to conduct business with your company.
Google Sites Help
I struggled a bit with different aspects of the Google Sites interface and the help section definitely came in handy. I would recommend this page for anyone who is looking to create a Google Site. The help section was easy to use and included a lot of information for such a new product.
Creating a web presence is a must in the field of telecom. I work at a production house in St. Petersburg and the majority of our business comes in through traffic to the website. Clients want to see that you're tech savvy enough to create a polished site that showcases your work and exudes an air of professionalism. Sites that are poorly written, or difficult to navigate make clients uneasy and less likely to conduct business with your company.
Google Sites Help
I struggled a bit with different aspects of the Google Sites interface and the help section definitely came in handy. I would recommend this page for anyone who is looking to create a Google Site. The help section was easy to use and included a lot of information for such a new product.
WEEK 12: Social Tools and Cloud Computing
This week we discussed cloud computing, or server based computing. Cloud computing allows users to work from any computer with internet access because the applications or files being used are hosted off of a server and able to be accessed online. Google Docs is an example of cloud computing. The alternative, Microsoft Office or Open Office is installed on your computer. However, with Google Docs, the applications are online and your files are also saved online. This means that anyone with permission to access the Google Doc can open it up anywhere and continue editing it. Industry-wide, we're seeing a move to cloud computing with more and more services and applications hosting files in the cloud.
Telecommunication relies on cloud computing to some degree. I will create Google Groups with Google Docs of scripts, schedules, and contact information for the cast and crew to keep them up to date. However, cloud computing does not yet have a data infrastructure that can support the bandwidth required to perform video editing/rendering from the cloud. Which means in the meantime, I'm forced to store hundreds of gigabytes of video footage on numerous cumbersome external hard drives. As far as I'm concerned, the cloud couldn't come soon enough.
The Cloud and Microsoft
This is a neat site created by microsoft highlighting cloud computing technology, both present and future. With Microsoft Office's move towards cloud computing, I expect to see many more companies following suit.
Telecommunication relies on cloud computing to some degree. I will create Google Groups with Google Docs of scripts, schedules, and contact information for the cast and crew to keep them up to date. However, cloud computing does not yet have a data infrastructure that can support the bandwidth required to perform video editing/rendering from the cloud. Which means in the meantime, I'm forced to store hundreds of gigabytes of video footage on numerous cumbersome external hard drives. As far as I'm concerned, the cloud couldn't come soon enough.
The Cloud and Microsoft
This is a neat site created by microsoft highlighting cloud computing technology, both present and future. With Microsoft Office's move towards cloud computing, I expect to see many more companies following suit.
WEEK 11: Open Source Software
This week we learned all about open source software. Open source software is any piece of software "for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed with or without modification". This means that most open source software has a thriving community of developers who are constantly working to improve the software and continuously release new updates. One of the best parts about open source software is that its free. Most software that exists today has an open source equivalent, such as Microsoft Office and Open Office or Photoshop and Gimp.
Open source software is quite valuable in the telecom field as most of the required software is absurdly expensive. Final Cut Pro is nearly $1000 on its own, so any opportunity to exchange a piece of software like that for a free open source equivalent is welcomed. However there aren't any editing programs to my knowledge that are open source. There are however, open source equivalents to other production software. Final Draft, a script writing program, has an open source equivalent called Celtx.
This is a great example of a piece of open source software designed for the video production industry. Its the open source alternative to the script writing program Final Draft and its supported by an amazing team of developers and distributed online for free.
WEEK 10: Spring Break
We didn't have any class this week. I went to Key West to scout for a movie instead.
WEEK 9: The Sound of...Podcasting
This week we wrapped up Learning Entries #2, blogs 6 through 9, and at the same time, cross the two thirds mark of the semester. I've learned a lot so far in this course about design, web presence, and web 2.0 as a whole. However, not until this week did we really discuss audio, an often overlooked yet equally important part of any presentation. Our assignment for this week was to create a podcast, or an audio recording. I created my podcast in Apple's Garageband, a program that allows users to create both podcasts and music. Being completely new to podcasts, mine was very simple. It was nothing more than a glorified sound recording from my Macbook Pro. Once I'd finished my recording and exported it as an MP3 it was time to embed it into my learning blog, which I did using a site called SoundCloud, which I'll discuss in greater detail at the bottom of this post.
Audio, as I mentioned earlier, is an often overlooked element of video, yet immensely important. Audiences are far more likely to forgive poor video if there is quality audio, than they are to forgive poor audio if there is quality video. The most important elements of a film, or any video production, are often revealed within the audio, via dialog or off-camera sounds. Learning to use audio software, such as Garageband or Soundtrack Pro, is vital to any video production as the audio will make or break your production.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a fantastic resource for uploading podcasts, music, or foley work for a production and sharing it with fellow cast, crew, or just classmates. The process of uploading my podcast to having a link I could share with anyone I wanted to, took less than 5 minutes, and I was even able to embed my podcast right into my blog.
Audio, as I mentioned earlier, is an often overlooked element of video, yet immensely important. Audiences are far more likely to forgive poor video if there is quality audio, than they are to forgive poor audio if there is quality video. The most important elements of a film, or any video production, are often revealed within the audio, via dialog or off-camera sounds. Learning to use audio software, such as Garageband or Soundtrack Pro, is vital to any video production as the audio will make or break your production.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a fantastic resource for uploading podcasts, music, or foley work for a production and sharing it with fellow cast, crew, or just classmates. The process of uploading my podcast to having a link I could share with anyone I wanted to, took less than 5 minutes, and I was even able to embed my podcast right into my blog.
WEEK 7: Visual Literacy
In week 7 we continued our work on Photoshop tutorial activity. I finished early so I began to work on my visual literacy Photoshop project. The visual literacy project requires us to incorporate several images into a larger image using what we've learned in Photoshop. I chose to bring the phone booth and guard into the Grand Canyon image.
Photoshop plays a large role in Telecommunications. Its used to create and edit graphics to be included in pictures and videos. However, Photoshop is nothing without a solid foundation in visual literacy. Every week I see my classmates in my telecom classes deliver technically sound productions, but completely visually illiterate. Without the ability to convey meaning in an organized and visually pleasing manner, a production, no matter how technical it is, lacks professionalism and cannot convey meaning.
TEDxDartmouth-Brian Kennedy: Visual Literacy: Why We Need It!
It's a long video, but it deals a lot with visual literacy and why its important to, well, everything. Kennedy discusses the many applications and contexts of visual literacy. He goes on to discuss the history of visual literacy before the era of literacy, beginning with cave paintings.
Photoshop plays a large role in Telecommunications. Its used to create and edit graphics to be included in pictures and videos. However, Photoshop is nothing without a solid foundation in visual literacy. Every week I see my classmates in my telecom classes deliver technically sound productions, but completely visually illiterate. Without the ability to convey meaning in an organized and visually pleasing manner, a production, no matter how technical it is, lacks professionalism and cannot convey meaning.
TEDxDartmouth-Brian Kennedy: Visual Literacy: Why We Need It!
It's a long video, but it deals a lot with visual literacy and why its important to, well, everything. Kennedy discusses the many applications and contexts of visual literacy. He goes on to discuss the history of visual literacy before the era of literacy, beginning with cave paintings.
WEEK 8: Digital Storytelling
In week 8 we learned about digital storytelling. We focused on online technologies that specialize in digital storytelling such as Animoto and iMovie. I created a slideshow about my little sister, Sophie using Animoto. Animoto is an online web 2.0 tool that allows users to upload pictures, and now video, to their site. Upon uploading, users are then able to choose a video style and music to accompany the slideshow that Animoto creates.
Sites like Animoto are useful on more of a consumer end. From a professional standpoint, Animoto does not offer enough control over the video to use for clients. However, I sent my Animoto video out to relatives and they loved it. All in all, its a useful tool, but too simple to be used professionally in a Telecom setting.
Prezi
I chose Prezi as my resource for this week's topic of digital storytelling. Prezi is a similar resource to Powerpoint, but entirely online and easily accessible from anywhere. The site allows a great deal of customization and makes more visually interesting presentations. Overall, Prezi is a top notch web 2.0 tool for presentations and digital storytelling.
Sites like Animoto are useful on more of a consumer end. From a professional standpoint, Animoto does not offer enough control over the video to use for clients. However, I sent my Animoto video out to relatives and they loved it. All in all, its a useful tool, but too simple to be used professionally in a Telecom setting.
Prezi
I chose Prezi as my resource for this week's topic of digital storytelling. Prezi is a similar resource to Powerpoint, but entirely online and easily accessible from anywhere. The site allows a great deal of customization and makes more visually interesting presentations. Overall, Prezi is a top notch web 2.0 tool for presentations and digital storytelling.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
EXTRA POST 3: Podcast
For this blog post we were required to create a podcast, or audio recording and attach it to our post. I chose to create a SoundCloud account and upload my podcast track to that site. The test podcast I created is embedded below. Enjoy!
Austin Gilmour - Podcast by gilmoursa
Podcasts are a useful way to stay up to date with current technology in the production field. Movies are constantly being produced and podcasts such as Kevin Smith's Smodcast are great resources for breaking production news.
Austin Gilmour - Podcast by gilmoursa
Podcasts are a useful way to stay up to date with current technology in the production field. Movies are constantly being produced and podcasts such as Kevin Smith's Smodcast are great resources for breaking production news.
WEEK 6: Media and Information Literacy
Week 6 was a discussion of media, visual, and information literacy. Visual literacy is the ability to convey information through design, or
In Telecommunications, visual literacy is one of the main goals of every production. My major focuses almost entirely on visual literacy and telling a story through images. Being able to interpret and make sense of information presented is vital to delivering a finished product to clients.
Photoshop Tuts
I chose the above resource because it proved very useful for the visual literacy project. The site offers numerous photoshop tutorials and has helped me out of a bind on several occasions.
"the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image"We began the week with a tutorial on photoshop and its many different tools. The tutorial called for us to create an image with different types of athletic shoes. Additionally we learned about the visual literacy project and saw examples from previous years.
In Telecommunications, visual literacy is one of the main goals of every production. My major focuses almost entirely on visual literacy and telling a story through images. Being able to interpret and make sense of information presented is vital to delivering a finished product to clients.
Photoshop Tuts
I chose the above resource because it proved very useful for the visual literacy project. The site offers numerous photoshop tutorials and has helped me out of a bind on several occasions.
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